Confrontations were never pleasant, but Lou knew that there were times when they were necessary. Yeah, necessary the way lancing a boil is, which meant the sooner you got them over and done with, the better.
As he’d hoped, Eli had just arrived for work and checked in, but hadn’t opened any files. Which meant it would be much harder to come up with an excuse to brush him off.
“Eli, I need to talk to you.”
Eli looked up at Lou. “What’s it with you? This had better be important.”
Yes, Eli would pull rank, as a clone of one of the Mercury 7 being challenged by one of the third selection group. But Lou knew that he couldn’t let Eli bully him.
“Damned important. I’m sure you’re familiar with the importance of reliable sources of information.”
“Sure, who isn’t? Garbage in, garbage out, and all that.”
“Then I’m sure you’ll appreciate the importance of not deliberately spreading rumors.”
Eli was about to answer with yet another casual affirmative when he stopped and looked Lou over a little more closely. “Just what is this really about? Because no, I don’t believe that you’re just coming by to remind me of what everyone knows. You’ve got a bug up your butt about something, and I want to know what it is.”
“Very simple. You were telling some of the younger kids about something that happened over at Schirrasburg. Something that I know for a fact has not been generally released. If you thought it was funny to frighten the kids with it, I suggest you think again.”
Eli rolled those big blue Shepard eyes. “Really, man. I knew Chaffees were straight-arrows, but you’re taking it to ridiculous levels.”
“You might want to be careful about dismissing criticism too quickly.” Lou leaned forward a little, hoping to secure the advantage. “If this were to come to the attention of more senior personnel, they might not find it as amusing as you do. Especially considering that we are in a state of emergency right now, actions to the detriment of good order could become a very serious charge.”
Eli would try to bluster and dismiss the idea, but Lou was pretty sure that he’d hit the mark. Why else would he be so adamant in trying to blow Lou off, if he didn’t have at least a little of a guilty conscience?
Lou decided it was probably the point at which to leave Eli with his thoughts. Push too hard and you could actually end up diminishing the effectiveness of your words.